Artist Statement

Dave Hay
Contemporary Artist
American, b. August 14, 1962 — Joliet, Illinois

Dave Hay’s work explores an expressive quiet presence through color, gesture, and form. Rooted in Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting, and traces of Pop imagery, his paintings balance intensity with stillness — lyrical fields of movement shaped by rhythm, intuition, and emotional resonance.

Influenced by artists such as Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly, Basquiat, and Warhol, Hay approaches painting as both gesture and atmosphere: a living record of motion, energy, and reflection. Sweeping marks, layered surfaces, and luminous color relationships create spaces that feel at once expansive and intimate.

Rather than seeking fixed meaning, his work invites pause, immersion, and connection — encouraging viewers to encounter the subtle force of presence through abstraction.

About the Artist

Dave Hay was raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, and now lives and works in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His creativity was nurtured from an early age by his mother, Jayne Hay, an accomplished artist and teacher whose influence helped shape his lifelong relationship to art and expression.

He earned degrees in Art and Art Education and spent more than twenty-five years teaching before dedicating himself fully to his studio practice.

Hay’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and is held in private collections internationally. Most recently, he has been represented by Carolyn Kramer Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Chalk Gallery in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

His contemporary practice merges the emotional force of Abstract Expressionism with the atmospheric qualities of Color Field painting, resulting in works that are both bold and contemplative. Through rhythm, color, and intuitive process, Hay creates paintings that hold movement, memory, and quiet force in balance.